Sedita agreed with Ms. Wheaton that the comments of Keane, Netzel and other county officials to The Buffalo News for a Dec. 15, 1996, article about sick leave problems at the Alden jail involving Grasso and others were non-defamatory and stemmed from "a matter of common interest."

Sedita conducted a hearing on the case Tuesday,

Neither Grasso, 38, of Hamburg, who continues to work at the jail, nor his attorney, Harvey P. Sanders, could be reached for comment.

In the 1996 article, Netzel complained that some 35 jail guards, including Grasso, had cost county taxpayers $1 million in extended sick leave in recent years because they were eligible for the same long-term benefits injured police officers and firefighters get under state law.

Grasso claimed he suffered right hip, shoulder and back injuries in a May 24, 1996, mishap at the Erie County Medical Center and became the unintended victim of a political falling-out that year between former Erie County Democratic Chairman Vincent J. Sorrentino and County Executive Gorski

Grasso in the December 1996 article said he owed his $32,000-a-year county job to Sorrentino.